Sensitive paper developing device



8, 1964 TATSUO AlZAWA SENSITIVE PAPER DEVELOPING DEVICE Filed Au 8, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2

' INVENTOR. TATSUO AIZAWA Aug. 18, 1 64 TATSUO AIZAWA 3,144,817

SENSITIVE PAPER DEVELOPING DEVICE Filed Aug. 8, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /I2 3 Fl r1 n n v r/ =H=@\ )5? INVENTOR.

TATSUO AIZAWA 436mm, i pfytilLk A T TORNEY United States Patent 3,144,317 SENSITIVE PAPER DEVELQPING DEVICE Tatsuo Aizawa, 5 Miyalayashi-cho, Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, Japan Filed Aug. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 48,163 1 Claim. (Cl. 55-89) This invention relates to improvements in photo-developing systems of the type using the moist process for developing the sensitized paper.

Systems of the type to which the invention relates involve a primary and a secondary roller between which the sensitized paper passes. In some of the machines heretofore used, both rollers may coat developer upon the surface of the sensitized paper and surplus developer on the paper is pressed out by means of the pressure between the two rollers. In such constructions the developer may not be evenly and sufficiently coated on the paper since if the coating roller is of relatively hard quality the quantity of developer adhered to its surface is insufficient where the roller is intended to convey developer from the tank by its rota-tion. Therefore, in this system, the developed copy may sometimes be too faint or too dark, or have faint and dark areas because of unequal adhesion of developer on the circumference of the coating roller. To avoid this defeet the surface of the coating roller has in some cases been provided at wide intervals with shallow troughs. With such rollers more developer is applied to the sensitive paper than by a plane hard roller, but only the portions of the paper which coincide with the troughs receive much developer. In other machines, the circumference of the roller has been made of soft material such as sponge rubber. These have the defect that the paper may absorb too much liquid and, especially if the paper is thin, it is easily torn. Also the dried copy loses the original shape. If thick sensitive paper is employed, it cannot be easily dried since it absorbs so much more moisture, and furthermore the thick paper is more expensive than the thin.

A further defect in such machines as heretofore constructed resides in the fact that the paper being processed occasionally becomes wound about one or the other of the two rollers. When this happens the operator must go to the trouble of removing the paper before work may proceed.

Some machines seek to insure that the sensitive paper will receive a sufficient amount of developer over its entire surface by passing it deep into the liquid in the developing tray. Thin paper cannot be used in such machines because it loses its shape on being soaked in the developer and is forwarded with difficulty. The thick sensitive paper used in such machines cannot easily be dried and when the developed paper is forwarded out of the development of a number of sheets, these copies become attached to each other so that the drying process may be delayed. In separating them, if a copy which is still very moist is touched with a finger, its pattern is left and the copy soiled.

Also, in prior developing devices of this type, the various parts such as the coating and secondary rollers, and the developer tray are connected directly to the frames so that their assembly or removal becomes inconvenient. Users have a tendency to operate the machine without cleaning or washing the parts of the developing section. The developing chemicals, which are easily oxidized, adhere together with dust on the developer tray, the coating and secondary rollers. These pollute the new developer as added and the sensitive paper may become soiled to such an extent as to cause deep stains or discolorations in the copy.

It is the purpose of this invention to overcome the aforementioned defects and diificulties in the prior machines 3,144,817v Patented Aug. 18, 1964 "ice and to improve the efficiency thereof and the quality of the work produced. In pursuance of this purpose, it is one of the primary objects of the invention to provide a machine of the type in which the paper is not passed into the liquid in the developer tray but in which a sutiicient quantity of the developer is conveyed by the primary or coating roller to the paper and to the secondary roller to properly moisten the paper on both sides without excessive wetting of the same.

A further object of the invention is to provide a means for preventing the paper being processed from winding about either the coating roller or the secondary roller.

A further object of the invention resides in the construction and arrangement of parts in a machine of this type to the end that all of the elements of the developer section which are exposed to the developing chemicals may be readily removed for washing and cleaning, or for repair or replacement without the use of tools and with out the use of separate fasteners such as screws, bolts and the like.

The attainment of the forementioned objects of the invention as well as other objects and features thereof will be made apparent in the following detailed descrip tion in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a photo-printing and developing machine with part of the housing broken away to show internal structure in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 2 shows in section, and on an enlarged scale, the developer section of the machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a holder assembly for the primary or coating roller, the secondary roller and certain parts of the forwarding means for transferring the copy from the rollers.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the holder of FIG. 3, but with the coating and secondary rollers removed.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view showing portions of the frame of the machine in the area of the developer section but with the holder assembly and tray removed.

In the embodiment shown in the drawing, the machine comprises a housing having side frames 1 and enclosing the printing and developing apparatus. As shown, the apparatus includes the glass cylinder 2 in which the light source 3 is mounted on reflecting plate 4. A motor 5 drives an endless chain 6 which in turn drives the endless bands 7 which rotate the glass cylinder 2. It will be understood that these parts pertaining to the exposure of the sensitive paper and the matter to be copied to the light source are in general well known in the art and that these may take various forms or this phase of the printing operation may occur in a separate machine. The parts are here shown as illustrating a suitable relation between the printing phase and the developing phase as it concerns the forwarding of the paper from the printing phase to the developing phase with which this invention is more particularly concerned.

As seen in FIG. 2, one roller 8 of the rollers for the endless belt or bands 7 has a further roller 9 positioned above it. This roller 9 is loosely journalled in notches provided in the edges of the side frames 1 so that it rests by gravity on the roller 8 with the belt 7 there between. These two rollers constitute feeding rollers for directing the exposed paper into the developing apparatus. It will be understood that the exposed paper received between the rollers 8 and 9 could be from some source other than that shown in FIG. 1.

Deep cut-out portions 10 extend downwardly from the upper edges of the side frames 1, these cut-out portions being opposed and of a size sufficient to receive the developing tray 11. The tray requires no other fastening or supportingmeans and thus, when the overlying mechanism is removed or swung back, it may be lifted out for cleaning without undoing any fastening means or removing screws, bolts or the like.

The side frames 1 have a further pair of opposed cutout portions or slots 12 for mounting a holder assembly. The slots 12 extend downwardly and forwardly from the upper edges of the side frames 1 and are adapted to receive the projecting ends of a rod or shaft 14 of the holder assembly.

The holder assembly comprises a pair of side members 13 and a plurality of parallel rods or shafts extending therebetween and connecting the side members together in a rigid structure. The rod 14 connects the rear ends of the side members 13 and projects therebeyond to form pintles adapted to be received in the cut-out portions 12 and thus pivotally and removably mount the holder as sembly in the side frames. Annular notches or grooves 15 are provided in the projecting ends of the rods 14 for the attachment of springs as will hereinafter be described.

The forward ends of the side members 13 of the holder assembly are each provided with long open slots 16 for receiving the primary and secondary rollers of the developing section. The side members are also provided with outwardly extending tabs 17 for convenience in handling. Of the rods interconnecting the side members 13, two, indicated at 18 carry the thin sheet metal pieces 19. The sheet metal pieces 19 are spaced at intervals along the length of the rods and a second pair of rods 21) support thin sheet metal pieces 21 in spaced positions immediately under the pieces 19. The rods 14, 18 and 19 are rigidly connected to the side members 13 and thus supply rigidity to the holder assembly. A further rod 22 has its ends rotatably journaled in the side members and constitutes a shaft for a plurality of rollers 23, one of these being positioned adjacent each set of the sheet metal pieces 19 and 21.

The shaft 24 of a primary or coating roller 25 has its projecting end positions receivedvin the slots 16 of the side members 13.

This roller is preferably of elastic material and has deep slits 26 extending circumferentially thereabout, and closely spaced longitudinally thereof. The shaft 27 of a secondary roller 28 is also received in the slots 16 in a position such that the secondary roller lies rearwardly and above the primary roller 25. The secondary roller is of the same general construction as the primary roller, having deep slits 29 therein corresponding to the slits 26 in the primary roller and positioned in alignment therewith and the sheet metal pieces 19 and 21 are in alignment with the certain ones of these slits. Each of the pieces 19 has a hook like forward end portion, the point of which projects into one of the slits 26, and each of the pieces 21 has a pointed end entering into a corresponding slit 29. The slits 26 and 29 are sufficiently narrow and deep to absorb liquid by capillary attraction.

One of the projecting ends of the shaft 24 of the coating roller 25 carries a gear 30 and the corresponding end of the shaft 27 of secondary roller 28 carries a gear 30 meshing with the gear 30. A gear 31 mounted on one of the side frames is driven by the chain 6, and this gear drives the gear 30 through an idler gear 32. A pair of springs 33 each having one end engaged in an annular groove 15 on a projecting end of the rod 14 and its other end engaged in a similar groove 24 on a projecting end of the shaft 24 of the coating roller 25, maintain the two rollers 25 and 28 in contact along the entire length thereof and with the respective gears 30 and 30' in mesh. These springs also serve to retain the roller 25 in the holder, otherwise the projecting ends of the shaft 24 would be free to drop out of the slots 16, and the manner of connecting the springs to the shaft by hooking the ends thereof in the annular groove 15 permits the rotation of the shaft while retaining the two rollers 25 and 28 in yielding engagement.

The complete holder assembly, as seen in FIG. 3,

or removed from the machine by simply inserting the projecting ends of the rod 14 into the open slots 12 of the side frames 1. In so doing, the portions of the rod 14 between the side members 13 and the springs 33 are inserted in the slots 12, and the springs will then lie outwardly of the side frames 1 while the side members 13 of the holder assembly will lie inwardly of these frames. As the holder assembly moves downwardly and forwardly into the machine, the side members 13 come to rest upon the projections 34 which extend inwardly from the side frames 1 in such a position that when the rod 14 rests in the bottom of the slots 12 and the side members 13 rest upon these projections 34, the roller 25 will be partially immersed in the developer tray 11.

The shaft 35 of a copy forwarding device is journaled in open notches formed in upper edge of the side frames 1 in a position below and slightly forwardly of the shaft 22 and a plurality of rollers 36 are mounted on the shaft at regularly spaced intervals corresponding to and registering with the rollers 23 on the shaft 22. An outer end of the shaft 35 carries a gear 37 driven by the chain 6 so that the rollers 36 are driven at a speed comparable to that of the primary and secondary rollers 25 and 28. The shaft 22 is loosely journaled in the side members 13 so that the rollers 23 rest by gravity on the rollers 36, and therefore are rotated at the same speed.

In operation, guides 38 direct the exposed sensitive paper, or like material, from the feed rollers 8 and 9 to the primary and secondary rollers 25 and 28. The primary roller 25, being driven by the chain 6 through the gears 31, 32 and 30, rotates with its lowermost portion immersed in the liquid developer and due to the capillary action of the narrow slits 26 picks up some of the developer therein as well as some upon its surface. The secondary roller 28 being in contact with the primary roller picks up some of the developer therefrom in its capillary slits 29 as these come into registry with the slits 26 of the primary roller. The secondary roller is preferably driven at the same speed as the primary roller through the gear 30 meshing with the gear 30. It will be understood that the gear 30 might be omitted since roller 28 is in firm surface contact with the roller 25 however, since there is a material frictional resistance imposed against the rotation of the rollers the positive drive connection through the gears 30 and 30 is preferred. The paper to be developed comes in contact with sufiicient liquid to fully moisten the same on both sides thereof as it comes into contact with the rollers. As it passes therebetween, any excess of moisture is wrung out. In this respect, the rollers possess the advantages of the usual solid rubber rollers over porous rollers in that any excess of liquid is pressed out. However, in contradistinction to these the rollers of this invention assure that there will be a uniform distribution of the moisture over the entire surface of the paper due to the presence of the capillary slits 26 of the roller 25 which retain sufiicient liquid to insure that the sensitized side of the paper will receive sufficient moisture and that this will be applied uniformly over the surface. It will be understood that the slits 26 are sufiiciently closely spaced that the normal porosity of the paper will be ample to permit the full spreading of liquid over the area of the paper between any two successive slits. As the paper passes between the rollers 25 and 28, both sides of the paper are moistened, the back being moistened to a somewhat less degree than the front but sufficiently to prevent distortion of the paper which may result when only one side is treated. From the primary and secondary rollers the paper is directly upwardly and rearwardly by the edges of the thin sheet metal pieces 19, which have curved hooked end portions received in some of the slits 26 and which thus prevent the paper from wrapping around the roller 25. The paper is thus directed upwardly over the top of the roller 28 and the thin pieces 21 having pointed ends projecting intothe slits 29 of the roller 28 prevent the paper from wrapping around the secondary roller. The upper edges of the pieces 21 form with the lower edges of the pieces 19 a guide path to the rollers 23, 36 which propel the paper tothe discharge space.

From the foregoing it will seem that the invention provides a construction in which the developer is applied evently to the surfaces of the exposed sensitive paper in amounts sufficient for the purpose but which are definitely limited to predetermined quantities dependent upon the capillary effect of the slits 26 and 29. Furthermore, the structure which provides for the uniform distribution of the developer functions in conjunction with the thin sheet metal pieces 19 and 21 to prevent the paper from wrapping about either the primary or secondary roller. Also, all parts of the developer section including the holder assembly and the developer tray 11 may be readily removed by merely lifting them out yet when assembled lateral displacement of parts is prevented.

While there has been herein described a single preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that other embodiments within the scope of the appended claim will be obvious to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the form shown and the teachings hereof.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is:

In a photo-developing machine, a pair of side frames of sheet material, a tray for developer solution supported adjacent the upper edges of said side frames, said side frames having a pair of opposed open slots extending downwardly from the upper edges thereof, said slots having closed bottom ends at points above and rearward of said tray, a holder assembly, primary and secondary coating rollers positioned at one end of said assembly, projections extending laterally from said assembly adjacent the opposite end thereof, and receivable in said slots, the parts being so dimensioned and positioned that when said projections are disposed in said slots said assembly may be swung on said projections as pivots to position said primary roller in said tray or to remove it therefrom, said holder assembly including a pair of side members of flat sheet material, a plurality of spaced parallel rods extending between said side members and secured thereto to hold the same in spaced parallel rela tion and provide therewith a rigid structural unit, one of said rods, adjacent one end of said side members extending therethrough and constituting a supporting rod to provide said projections receivable in said slots, each of said side members having an open slot extending inwardly from the end thereof opposite said supporting rod, said primary and secondary rollers each having projecting portions providing pintles journaled in said lastmentioned slots with the pintles. of the secondary roller adjacent the closed ends of said slots and the pintles of the primary roller adjacent the outer ends thereof and sprnig means urging said primary roller into contact with said secondary roller, said rollers being of impermeable elastic material and having deep slits extending circumferentially thereof and lying in closely spaced planes transverse to their axes and a plurality of spaced guide members of thin sheet material mounted on said holder and having ends projecting into said slits on the discharge side of said rollers, and having opposed edges defining a guide passage for sheet material therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 872,392 Von Auw Dec. 3, 1907 1,841,653 Van Der Grinten et al. Jan. 19, 1932 2,142,318 Langsner Jan. 3, 1939 2,336,875 MacDonald et al. Dec. 14, 1943 2,605,684 Nagels et al. Aug. 5, 1952 2762,281 Kleinstra Sept. 11, 1956 2,965,013 Dorion Dec. 20, 1960 

